Jannik Sinner is in the game

Our columnist Sigi Heinrich was also impressed by the unusual emotions of the loser Novak Djokovic and sees a new era dawning in women's tennis after the victory of the 18-year-old Brit Emma Raducanu.

It's the time of tears. Uncontrolled and unrestrained, the eyes become moist and the cheeks wet. They are multi-faceted. There are tears of joy that you naturally like to shed. They are wanted. The crocodile tears, on the other hand, are insidious and reveal hypocrites.

You never want the tears of sadness, but the tears of disappointment can never be avoided in life. A dissolving love can lead to this or the failure of a dream. How this happened now with Novak Djokovic, who cried because he missed the Grand Slam in a calendar year. And all this in front of Rod Laver, who last achieved this unusual feat in 1969. I want to stand up for the Serb, who is not at the top of the popularity list of tennis stars. Like Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal, he has also won 20 Grand Slam tournaments.

But he still hasn't come close to the aura of the elegant Federer or the mischievous charm of Nadal. He often appears provocatively self-confident and aloof and has been trying to compensate for this for years with grand gestures after successes, symbolically giving his heart to the audience with both arms. In all four directions. It seems artificial and anything but spontaneous. In his Olympic failure in Tokyo against Zverev, he also appeared uncontrolled and aggressive. Most painful defeat of his career And yet now a defeat, the most painful of his career, has revealed a different Djokovic. He was a vulnerable soul as he hid behind his towel during the last sentence and could no longer hold back the tears. He knew at that moment that he would lose. And yet somehow it was a victory that suddenly came about. Because now he reached the fans without previously rehearsed actions. And then he said big sentences at the award ceremony.

He praised his opponent and conqueror Daniil Medvedev, who also played against the audience. The reason is simple: he is Russian. That's apparently enough to automatically make him an enemy and support his opponent. It doesn't need to be emphasized that this is pathetic and unsportsmanlike. However, Medvedev was not deterred and even apologized to Djokovic for depriving him of his big dream.

That was once again great sport on the Center Court, just as this US Open probably heralded a new era in tennis. A time that will probably no longer be shaped by Federer and Nadal and in which the 34-year-old Djokovic will no longer set the tone as intensively as he did this year. Alexander Zverev is in the starting blocks and is ready for his first Grand Slam victory. The Austrian Dominik Thiem will return and Jannik Sinner from Sexten cannot be missing from the list of possible candidates for big victories. He didn't stand a chance against Zverev in the quarter-finals, even if it became clear that he still lacked some experience. His compatriot Matteo Berrettini also failed in the quarter-finals. Against Djokovic, where he won the first set. Tennis world in upheaval The tennis world is in transition. Variety is guaranteed and the desire to watch tennis games on TV again is unbridled. Spectacles are guaranteed, even for the women. The final between Emma Raducanu from Great Britain and Leylah Fernandez from Canada was an almost brutal act of tennis. The two 18-year-olds slammed the balls around each other's ears with almost merciless consistency. There were never any pillepalle balls. Offensive shots were played even in the most difficult situations. You could count the few net attacks on one hand, as well as the few balls played with slices. There was also an almost outrageous length and a mesmerizing accuracy when the meanest angles were played.

It was great, indeed great, tennis that the two teenagers showed. They ushered in a new era, which is also documented by the fact that Raducanu, the prodigy, first had to go through the grind of qualification in order to then continue to win the US Open in the main draw without losing a set. She made history. And because she wants to concentrate entirely on tennis from now on - until three months ago she was still at school and trained very little - we can hope for further big performances. In every respect, as the appearance in the black cocktail dress at the press question time showed. The sign of life that tennis sent out, from New York of all places in the days that marked the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, could really inspire you, almost bring you to tears.

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Jannik Sinner is in the game

The US Open wasn't just about big sports. A turning point also emerged.

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